Slow down and live

We regularly write here about fast drivers on this island in the Pacific. We’ve remarked that they remind us of an old saying:

“Everybody thinks he’s a good driver and nobody’s as good a driver as he thinks he is.”

Even our best “highways” — Piilani, Haleakala, Maui Veterans, Kuihelani and the Airport Access Road — are, in fact, rural roads with crossing intersections all along them. Don’t let the four lanes fool you — you are liable to encounter cross traffic all along them.

Basically, what this means is that the posted speed limits are what these roads are designed for. If the sign says 45 miles per hour, don’t drive 70. Too many drivers on Maui do just that.

There is another factor involved in the “good driver” theory, too. Certainly, some drivers have better vision, better reaction times and a better feel for the road than others. But the speed that some of these “good drivers” feel they can handle actually panics drivers of lesser abilities.

To put it bluntly, when we see you roaring up on our tailgate we don’t know you’re a “great driver” who can swerve around us safely at the last second. It distracts us from our own driving and may cause us to hit someone in front of us. So you may not have been involved in the resulting accident, but you sure caused it.

So, please. Have respect for others on the road. Drive the speed limit. The life you save may be your own. Or ours.

(Portions of this editorial have appeared previously in The Maui News.)